What is art? How does it fit into the humanities and sciences? Week one presentation for a class, "Survey of the Arts."

TRANSCRIPT

SURVEY OF THE ARTS An Introduction to the Arts and Humanities Laura Loveday

Art and the Eye of the Beholder Art and Audience Art and Artist Art and Intention The arts strive to weave our experiences into coherent bodies of knowledge and to communicate them to others

Art within humanities Art is how our ancestors recorded the world around them in a time before cameras We record things the same way today: in how we dress, what music we listen to, the buildings we work and live in, or what we write You can tell what a culture valued by their artwork

Science vs. Humanities Seeks to describe reality Attempts to create a universal concept Measurable and quantitative Seeks to describe humankinds experience of reality Gives form to emotion More analytical approach

What would you guess about the person who owns these items?

Concerns of art Creativity Aesthetic communication Symbols

Fine art and applied art Fine art is lauded for its aesthetic quality Applied art includes architecture or handicrafts with a decorative purpose

Arts purpose and function Among arts purposes: 1) Provide a record 2) Give visible or other form to feelings 3) Reveal metaphysical or spiritual truths 4) Help people see the world in new or innovative ways Among arts functions: 1) Enjoyment 2) Political and social commentary 3) Therapy 4) Artifact

Aesthetic perception and response 1. What is it? 2. How is it put together? 3. How does the work appeal to our senses? 4. What does this work mean?

1. What is it? 2. How is it put together? 3. How does the work appeal to our senses? 4. What does this work mean?

Picasso believed a painting was a sum of destructions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1f7nHsQMFk 1. What is it? 2. How is it put together? 3. How does the work appeal to our senses? 4. What does this work mean?

The late 1800s disregarded traditional criticism Today, we evaluate art based through a lens

Formal criticism considers no external conditions or information Contextual criticism considers related information outside the artwork, such as facts about the artist, social and political conditions, etc. Evaluating art

Artisanship Is the work well made? Understand the medium and the style Communication Evaluate what the artwork tries to say and if it was worth the effort. Does it offer a profound or unique insight?

Art brut, or outsider art Idea developed by Jean Dubuffet in the 1940s and Roger Cardinal in 1972 Work created by those outside of mainstream art culture Artists may be self-taught May illustrate extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or fantasy worlds